


Seasick, yet still docked

by orphan_account



Category: The Smiths
Genre: M/M, The mermaid au no one asked for, i don’t even know how to tag this, its gonna be all over the place, this literally started out as meme
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:12:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26240176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Andy and Morrissey are merboys dreaming of what life might be like above the water. Johnny is a cabin boy stuck on the ship of the notorious pirate Mike Joyce, who is always looking for a big catch. A story of love, betrayal, and big glittery mermaid tails.
Relationships: Andy Rourke/Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke/Mike Joyce, Andy Rourke/Morrissey, Johnny Marr/Morrissey, Johnny Marr/Morrissey/Andy Rourke
Comments: 8
Kudos: 10





	Seasick, yet still docked

**Author's Note:**

> I’d like to start off by thanking my good friend, quietwandering, as they entertain my crazy ideas and I theirs. This started off as a joke since we have so many AUs together - and well once we started we couldn’t stop and this verse became so deep that I decided to take it on seriously. So here it is, the mermaid smiths au that no one asked for! <3

The sun was hot and warmed Andy to his core. He lay on top of a rock - the stone was huge, a tiny island resting above the water - sprawled out, arms crossed together behind his head as a mock pillow. Waves lapped against the little island, the fresh, salty smell of the sea consuming him and the sound of seagulls chattering in the sky above him. It was serene, he decided, and closed his eyes, prepared to nap on the rock for the rest of the afternoon. Not a single care in the world.

Andy’s tail was the first thing you’d notice about him; where legs should have been he had instead a long, full tail, moody green in color, with shiny scales that trailed all the way down to the end of his fin. Those same scales kissed his torso in random places, like freckles. A patch above his breast, near his collar bone, down the back of his arms, along the side of his neck close to his gills, (though these scales were mostly covered by his shoulder length blonde hair, which he loved to brush with a comb he’d gotten off a sailor during a trade) all tying in with his toad green eyes. He was truly a magnificent sight to behold, and that made sunbathing all the more dangerous for him.

Merfolk were worth quite a bit of money in the human world and while they often did business with sailors that dared to venture into the depths below to trade in the great oceanic cities, merfolk were not supposed to venture above water. Pirates were notorious for hunting mermen and mermaids, awful greedy humans that didn’t care if their catch ended up dead on someone’s plate for a luxurious dinner or crafted into some kind of wearable fashion statement. They cared only about riches, and given Andy’s impressive size he would sell for a very high price.

Still it was a risk he often took, he loved to feel the sun warming his body and the cool sea breeze blowing through his golden hair. He especially loved when Moz joined him, the two of them gazing up at the clouds together, relaxing under the warm heat of the sun. Though his friend was late today and that worried Andy.

Andy had known Morrissey his entire life. The two grew up together exploring the waters and had quite the reputation for getting into trouble. The pair often swam above the sea to catch glimpses of the ships that sailed by, and more importantly, the men that resided on these ships. Humans were fascinating, after all. Though Andy didn’t want to necessarily trade his life for theirs, he quite liked being an aquatic creature. Morrissey however would often loudly express his dreams of sprouting legs and venturing on land as a human. This fantasy only became heightened when he and Andy went exploring on land, finding little trinkets left behind by sailors and pirates.

They’d found tons of treasures that they had no idea the use for. Andy’s favorite by far was the little music maker with strings - it had a deep sound as his fingers plucked away at it and Moz often loved to sing along to the careless rhythm he’d created. This did not go well with the other merfolk so Andy and Moz would leave these more noticeable treasures above land buried in a little hole in the sand near a large palm tree. Though they’d come back as often as they could find the time to get away. This however, was becoming more and more rare as Moz had started to spend more time with the local sea witch called Linder. That’s probably where he was now.

Andy wasn’t jealous by any means (or so he told himself), but he did worry for his friend, sea witches were known to steal your soul, or at least that was how the legend goes. In fact one time Andy had told Moz that Linder would take the form of a giant squid and suck the life out of him and strangle him to death with her tentacles if he didn’t pay his debts - Moz had stopped seeing her for a few days until he came back from a visit and smacked Andy sharply with his tail, muttering on about offering the blonde over to pirates for his stupid attempt at a joke. But Linder was a nice sea witch, she made it possible for sailors to visit their city and offer goods up for trade, giving them a potion that temporarily allowed gills to form at their necks. So she bettered their community and was a good friend to Moz, but Andy would be lying if he said he wasn’t annoyed that she kept his friend from sunbathing with him.

He absentmindedly toyed with the little shell bracelet around his wrist. Moz had given it to him, he had one just like it, but Andy never took his off. It didn’t really symbolize _anything,_ merfolk gave each other gifts often without any real meaning behind them - just a sign of appreciation, or simply because it reminded them of the other. But Andy was very fond of his bracelet, secretly wished it meant something more. As if Andy’s annoyance and pining could be felt, Moz splashed above the surface of the water and flopped onto the island rock beside him. 

He was beautiful. His tail was slimmer than Andy’s own, a pale blue, almost crystalline in color with glittery scales that shone like diamonds, having been charmed by Linder. He had shorter, dark brown hair that sometimes flopped into his eyes when wet, like now, as he ran a hand through it getting the front to stand up a few inches on top of his head (he was obsessed with his hair, looked at it constantly in his little compact mirror they’d found on the beach). His chest was smooth and bare save for a few glittery scales, and his eyes were a captivating blue. His delicate features often had him being mistaken for a mermaid - oh, and there was also his voice. Linder had charmed it to sing beautiful songs that many of the merfolk enjoyed, however there was this tiny problem when Moz tried to sing above water, seagulls kept dropping dead around them. It horrified him and he’d recently been accused of being a siren, which was bad for the trade market, so he stuck to only singing below the water, and only when he was in a good mood. Which was rare.

“You’re late.” Andy greeted him accusingly.

“Oh hush. I’m here now, aren't I? Look what Linder gave me!” Moz smiled wide and revealed a tiny glass vial that contained what looked to be nothing more than a bit of sea water.

Andy scrunched his face, squinting at it before raising an eyebrow questioningly. “Hope you didn’t pay too much for it, looks like she just gave you a bit of sea water, which is free, if you haven’t noticed.” He gestured out at the water surrounding them.

Moz rolled his eyes and sighed, unimpressed. “It’s to improve the quality of my voice above water so when we finally happen to come across a ship, I’ll be able to charm us a sailor.” He tossed Andy a suggestive grin.

Andy snorted. “Yeah, and what exactly are we gonna do with a human? And don’t say it, you know that’s not allowed.” he added quickly before Moz could answer, not wanting to hear the same fantasy for the hundredth time over of being whisked away onto land by some charming man.

Thankfully Moz didn’t argue, which was a true kindness as Andy struggled to keep up with Moz’s sharp tongue. He lied down next to Andy on their rock and the two of them gazed up at the clouds, occasionally one would be shaped like something familiar and they’d both offer what they thought the shape took on. It felt like hours had passed them by and Moz was surely going to be sunburnt tomorrow, which was going to be quite the problem down below as people would ask questions. So Andy sat up and yawned before suggesting that they should probably head back before the sun sets.

“But I haven’t even tried my potion yet!” Moz whined and Andy just shrugged in response. “Well then what are you waiting for? Down it and sing us a song so we can be on our way, I don’t want to miss dinner.” Though Andy really hoped it worked, because he didn’t fancy seeing any more dead birds.

Moz eagerly downed the clear liquid and waited a moment as if he expected some grand sort of transformation to happen. It didn’t, and he became quite cross when Andy gave him a knowing look, holding back the _I told you so_ he desperately wanted to let out.

But despite all that, Moz started to sing. The sky was now a deep orange and the sun was threatening to leave them quickly. Andy smiled and closed his eyes, enjoying the softness of his friend’s voice as he was nearly lulled to sleep. He wished he’d had his little music maker with the strings to play the deeper notes that would accompany his friend’s voice. Waves hit the rock, gently swaying back and forth as Moz finished his little song. Andy opened his eyes and didn’t see any dead seagulls floating at the water’s crest, so that was a good sign.

He turned to look at his friend, smiling wide in appreciation. “That was beautiful,” he told Moz, a light blush spread across his cheeks. He wanted to say that Morrissey was beautiful, but he couldn’t find the courage to do so. Moz beamed at him, also pleased to not see any dead birds. Maybe this Linder had really brewed a success? There was no real way of them ever truly knowing, but Moz was happy and so that made Andy happy.

As the two dove back in the water, their tails creating quite the splash as they descended back to their home below, a ship sailed above them - the pair too busy arguing over what would be served for dinner tonight to notice the dark shadow cast above. But a dark haired boy had stopped scrubbing the deck for a moment, gazing out at the water with wonder, looking almost as if he’d _seen_ or even _heard_ something magical.


End file.
